Restore Shenoy Nagar park to its old glory within a year, HC directs CMRL

Requests A-G to bestow personal attention and appoints an amicus curiae too to monitor the progress every month

The Madras High Court on Thursday fixed an ultimatum of one year for the State government and Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) to restore the city’s major lung space the Thiru Vi Ka Park situated over 8.8 acres of land at Shenoy Nagar here to its old glory. The park was closed for long and taken up for construction of underground metro stations with a promise to restore it back after the construction works.

The judge also appointed advocate Chevanan Mohan as an amicus curiae and decided to monitor the progress of the restoration work every month. The orders were passed while hearing a writ petition filed by the residents of an apartment in Vadapalani complaining about the land given to Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA), for creating a park, having been handed over to CMRL for the metro corridor.

During the course of hearing of the case, the judge broached the issue of the promise to restore the Shenoy Nagar park having been put on cold storage for over 10 years. Pointing out that the city was in dire need of lung space such as the Thiru Vi Ka Park which was a haven for morning and evening walkers, the judge insisted that the park should be restored back to its old glory at the earliest and that the court would monitor the work.